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February 16, 2012

Stuart Attwell has lost his EPL slot

Referee Stuart Attwell has been taken from the select group of Premier League officials after a
four-year spell dogged by controversy.

Attwell
became the youngest referee to officiate in the top flight when, aged
25, he took charge of a match between Blackburn and Hull in 2008 after
one season in the Football League.

However, a month later he awarded a 'ghost' goal in a Championship match between Watford and Reading.

In 2010, he awarded Liverpool a
controversial goal against Sunderland at Anfield when the away team
believed the ball to be dead.

Most
recently, he came under fire in December for sending off former Bolton
defender Gary Cahill for denying Tottenham's Scott Parker a goalscoring
opportunity, despite the offence taking place near the halfway line.

The red card was rescinded. Attwell, 29, will return to the national list to continue his development in the Football League.

In
a statement, Professional Game Match Officials Limited general manager
Mike Riley backed Attwell to improve as a referee and return to the top
level.

'Throughout his
career in the Select Group Stuart has demonstrated great courage and
mental strength in responding to the challenges that he has faced,'
Riley said.

'He has shown
many of the attributes of a top flight official but the Premier League
is an exacting standard with huge demands. It is imperative that PGMOL
deliver the best officiating possible to the English game at all levels.

'This is not the end for Stuart. There are several match officials who have returned to the National List and benefited from it.'Stuart
has a high level of maturity and responsibility and I'm convinced that
he has a long-term future as a referee at the very highest level.'PGMOL sincerely hopes to be welcoming Stuart back to the Select Group in the future.'Attwell
said: 'I have learned a great deal from my involvement in the Select
Group over the last four years and I am now looking forward to building
on that valuable experience.'I
strongly believe I have a lot to offer refereeing, and I now look
forward with commitment and enthusiasm to the new challenge that I am
undertaking.'This is supported by a determination to continue my career development, and return to the Select Group as soon as possible.'

Attwell spent only one year on the national list prior to his promotion to the select group four years ago.He made his Premier League debut as a referee in the 1-1 draw between Blackburn and Hull in August 2008.Following
the Watford-Reading game, further controversies followed when he was
accused of 'losing control' of a Derby-Nottingham Forest derby, having
disallowed two Derby goals in the final stages, booking eight players
and sending off Forest's Lewis McGugan.He
has also attracted the ire of Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, who
accused the referee of lying about his reasons for sending off Gary
Caldwell in April 2010, while Stoke's Danny Higginbotham claimed Attwell
could be too easily influenced by players.Later
that year, he awarded Liverpool a highly controversial goal against
Sunderland. He had awarded the Black Cats a free-kick inside their own
half and Michael Turner touched the ball back to Simon Mignolet,
apparently for the goalkeeper to take the set-piece.But Attwell ruled the ball active, allowing Fernando Torres to steal it and set up Dirk Kuyt to finish into an empty net.

Not suprised, but I feel sorry for Attwell. He was mismanaged from the start, and never really had a chance to settle. Should have spent longer on the National List before promotion.As for Taylor, he must get a FIFA badge. Last season he looked another really poor PL ref, but this year he has simply been outstanding!!!Finally, the PGMO need to act quick and promote 1 maybe 2 referees to the PL, as the current group are looking tired and subsequently making numerous errors.

hope this case to be used in many others decisions. When selecting referees for FIFA lists or international competitions, look first to quality+preparation and later to the age. Yes, more and more the age seems to be more important then a very good background preparation. I wish good luck to Attwell. He will be back in some years with better conditions.

I think he has nearly reached everything, it it a good step to my mind.He will have chances to work for committees or as observer.

In general, I do not think that FA's policy in the area of refereeing is good at the moment. One has two, perhaps three promising, but extremely young refs in PL. But where are the 1975 - 1978 born refs who are old enough, experienced enough and aspiring enough to get the FIFA badge? Attwell was an experiment which went wrong, Oliver is the next trial. And then there are the old men like Halsey, Foy, Dowd etc who more or less may do what they want to.

And then there are men like Swarbrick and Moss who are too old for FIFA.

Uh..DFB has courage, they send Sippel to Schalke after the mess he did in October 11. I am excited how the crowd will react when his name and photo are shown at the video cube ... anyway, he has Salver and Borsch at the sidelines, so good.

Schiffner really seems to be injured, again no appointment..probably, that is the full reason for the strange appointment of Lupp at Brych's side.

I know, they made the appointment in early January and in the late January, Schiffner was replaced in a match by Anklam.After that, Aytekin had two matches in Bundesliga, both without Schiffner, therefore, an injury could be the reason.

About Attwell, it's not a demotion, it's a decision taken by both Attwell and Riley (as PGMOL's manager). Demotions and promotions from/to Select Group only at the end of the season (really recommended to read Ratetheref forum in this case).